The Vineyards

C astello di Poppiano is located in the area of “Chianti Colli Fiorentini” (“Chianti Hills of Florence”). While Chianti Colli Fiorentini “Il Cortile”and “Riserva” DOCG, together with Vinsanto, remain our most traditional wines, innovative works are ongoing and new IGT (Geographic Typical Indication) wines are being produced.

The sunny hills and the well drained south-sloping calcareous stony soils (locally called “alberese”) lying at elevation 300 to 140 m (980 to 460 ft) a.s.l. on the divide hills between the Pesa and Virginio streams provide fundamental conditions for great quality wines

The vineyards cover 130 ha (320 acres). The old vineyards planted in the years ‘60 to ‘70 are becoming obsolete and are being replanted based on the concept “to produce quality”. The average planting intensity increases from the past 3000 vines/ha (1200/acre) to 5000-6200 vines/ha (2000-2500 /acre) to reduce the yield per plant and get more concentration in the wines. Selected clones are introduced, whenever possible autochthonous. We have devoted a specific vineyard to identify new potential clones of Sangiovese in the frame of the project “Chianti Futuro”. Most of the vineyards are planted with Sangiovese, the main traditional grape of Chianti , with a complementary contribution of Merlot , Cabernet and Syrah.

The vineyards on the hills of the right bank of the Virginio creek are devoted to the production of Chianti Colli Fiorentini DOCG , while those on the left bank mainly produce IGT wines .